Questions remain about the fate of Bedford's Fawn Lake

Thursday

Jul 3, 2014 at 2:41 PMJul 3, 2014 at 2:41 PM

By Jessica Sylvia and Sam Perkins

bedford@wickedlocal.comThe future of Fawn Lake has recently come into question for Bedford residents and those with personal interest in the matter gathered on Thursday night at Town Center for a Friends of Fawn Lake meeting."We want to raise awareness of the future of Fawn Lake," said Bill Simons, a resident on Sweetwater Avenue and a founding member of the Friends, a group of residents who want to preserve the lake. "Economically and ecologically, it’s in jeopardy. The question is how do we maintain the lake how it was and is there historical value in maintaining it?"The 12-acre pond, and adjacent 2-acre lawn and 25-acre forest, which sit in the northern section of town not far from Middlesex Community College and the Billerica border, has many public access points, including a parking lot and pull-in off Springs Road. Purchased by the town in 1979 with State Self-Help funding, the lake is part of a conservation area and therefore falls under the management of the Conservation Commission, which has been aided by the DPW in maintaining the lake and forest.According to the Friends, the Town of Bedford Community Preservation Committee is coordinating an evaluation of the future of the lake, and the town has allocated money for consultants who will present several plans/options, in the fall, as to what can be done with the lake and the costs involved.The meeting opened with a presentation by former president of Bedford Historical Society, Alethea "Lee" Yates on the history of the lake. Yates, who published a book on Bedford’s history last year, gave a detailed description of the Fawn Lake area, dating back to the 1840s. The presentation included the life and death of Dr. William Hayden, the entrepreneur most likely responsible for the building of Fawn Lake and the owner of the aristocratic hotel complex that was built around the Bedford Springs."It was meant to be elegant," said Yates. "It had everything that people could want, a hotel, a golf course, a bowling alley, a ballroom, a theater, and of course the lake and that fresh Bedford air."But what was once an elegant resort bustling with carriages and steam-powered canoes full of Boston’s most elite, is now a small town lake full and families and wildlife.At the meeting, Simons stepped in with a second presentation to emphasize the educational and recreational significance of Fawn Lake. The PowerPoint presentation included his own family pictures of his kids fishing and skating.Simons, a professional geologist, also got into the ecological aspects of the lake. "Even though it is a man-made lake, another ecosystem has evolved," he said. That ecosystem includes three families of geese that all the meeting attendees seem to know.Residents also seem to share knowledge of the degrading environment of the lake. Jokes were tossed around about the lily pads, but the seriousness of the situation was not overlooked, and everyone seemed to agree: something had to be done."Obviously there is no silver bullet solution," said Simons. "There’s a lot of things that [the town] could do, and the Friends of Fawn Lake want to be a part of that decision making process."At the Nov. 4, 2013 Special Town Meeting, a Community Preservation Fund appropriation of $50,000 related to shoreline restoration, aquatic vegetation removal (an overgrowth of lily pads has proven to be an ongoing issues), trail realignment and general planning for the future of the conservation area was granted. According to Town Manager Rick Reed, the project is expected to begin shortly.Simon’s presentation laid out the ultimate goals of the committee and they included: maintaining the lake; reviewing town studies; educating the public and helping the town come up with rationale to get local, state and/or federal funding.In terms of the committee’s goals for Thursday’s meeting, Simons said, "We had this meeting to gauge interest and get the ball rolling." A survey was passed around the meeting that asked residents their connection or experience with Fawn Lake and if they can help Friends of Fawn Lake in certain areas such as networking, grant writing, social media, event coordination, fundraising, video/photography, trail maintenance, website administration, accounting or science/engineering expertise.Friends of Fawn Lake has email (fawnlakebedfordma@gmail) where they are willing to be reached for questions or volunteers. They are working on a website and App for smart phones. But their most popular social media so far has been their Facebook page where residents are free to share comments and of course add pictures of the town’s beloved families of geese.Follow the Bedford Minuteman on Twitter at @bedfordminutema.